Software

I use Open Office Calc for all
my spreadsheets. I'll also try to include Excel format as well, but
when in doubt, the Open Office
version (*.sxc) is the best reference, as Calc sometimes saves
spreadsheets in Excel with weird formatting, and non-functional
functions. Open Office runs on Linux, Solaris, Windoze, and Darwin,
and is open source.

These spreadsheets are a a bit rough still, but they have been very
useful to me. I'll be updating these as I fine tune and enhance
them.

The other software is distribured in C/C++ source form, and runs on on
Linux. While these programs should run on Windoze or Darwin, your
mileage may vary...

GnuAE is a an alternate energy system design and sizing
program. It focuses on design for the non-engineering person, with
additional features for the more engineering inclided. Using GnuAE,
one selects the various loads of a system, select photovoltaic panels
and other componenets via menus, and

PowerGuru is a monitoring and control program for Xantrex and
Outback Power Systems products. It has a back end, designed to run on
a low-power embedded inux system that does data logging to MySQL, and
also offers SNMP support for remote control from scripts, the command
line, GUIs, or web pages.

AbelMon is intended to mix data logging and power monitoring to
enable the software to control where the power gets distributed in
this case automatically. Many things, like running heaters, pumping
water into a cistern, or occasionally turning on a basement vent fan
to get rid of trapped radon gas. Most diversion load systems handle
only one simple relay, and have no logic behind them.

Wiresize

This is a spreadsheet I use to figure out the correct wire gauge
for a wiring project, given it's length, amperage, and voltage. I've
recently rewritten this spreadsheet to use the values from the power
spreadsheet to calculate the other wiring parameters for a PV array,
plus a standalone section where you can plug in your own values. This
spreadsheet is also now cranking out NEC compliant numbers, including
temperature compensation for wire resistance. Here it is in Open Office Calc format, and here's a
copy in MS Excel 97 format.

Power

This is another spreadsheet I wrote to calculate the cost of a
solar system based on it's load requirements. This contains a list of
power loads covering everything from light bulbs, to clothes
washers. It also has a database from Several manufacturers like Real Goods which is used
to calculate the costs. I've recently rewritten the entire PV database
to contain more information and calculations. Here it is in Open Calc format, and here's a copy in
MS Excel 97 format. This is now
unmaintained, but it was a good prototype for the guts of GnuAE, which
has replaced this spreadsheet. It's only included for spreadsheet
hackers to play with.

This is a version of Richard
J. Bono's Dome program, version 4.8. Although the Unix port was
already done, I tweaked things to (like adding a real Makefile) so it
would build on my Linux system. This program will generate a DXF or
POV file, describing the geometry of a dome skin. The previous version
of Dome 4.6 is here A prebuilt linux
binary of 4.6 is here.